Apple's relationship with the press, customers, and dealers

Although we don't live in the Apple is beleaguered times anymore, there's still enough to be said about them...
Transplanted once again...

The Gay Blade - 05:54pm Mar 31, 2000 EST
The Blade will attempt to transplant yet another rhetorical sapling here
on the Spork boards by copping a page from the delightful Brian Miller,
writing eloquently on the superannuated boards of yesteryear:

1) Apple's war with the Macintosh press;
2) Apple's slashing and burning of small local dealers, who often provided
the best service "in a pinch";
3) Apple's continued horrendous customer service breaches (individual Apple
Store orders cancelled in favour of large educaction/business orders).

Pulling all this evidence together and analysing it makes me feel far more
"worried" about Apple's future than any time under Amelio. Consider, for
instance, what all of those resources spent on lawyers threatening tiny Mac
sites could do in customer service and relations.

Before we consider Apple's "invasion" into the Fortune 1000 enterprise to
be ready, we have to focus on Apple's status in its own current markets. In
my view, there's a lot of "retrenching" to do before they're ready. They
can start by ceasing their intimidation of Mac publishers, letting the damn
Mac rags publish OS 8.6 on their cover disks, and spending a bit more time,
effort, and energy on a "satisfy the customer at all costs throughout the
organisation" policy. These are all core competencies they'll need before
they can even THINK of invading the big-enterprise space.
[/quote]

John Willoughby – March 27, 2017 11:46AMReplyQuoteEngland expects that every man will do his duty. Ha-ha!

QuoteARL
Oh FFS, they've somehow managed to make the iTunes interface uglier clumsier and even more unusable.

Stop it, FFS Apple. Just stop it...

They're employing Machiavelli's technique for winning the love of a conquered territory. Appoint a brutal oppressor as governor, and allow him to stamp out every vestige of resistance. Hang anybody who might even be thinking of resisting, and their families. Raises taxes to unsustainable, brutal levels. Seize all assets of worth. Then, once things are a living hell, sweep in with dramatic changes. Announce that you are shocked, shocked at the conditions there. Hang your interim governor, and appoint a new one who will stop the executions, lower taxes (but not all the way back to previous levels), and return some assets to the previous owners. Then your new governor will be worshipped as a saint.

We're still in phase one: iTunes the Oppressor. Someday they will release something that is marginally less abusive, and the days of iTunes the Savior will commence.

QuoteARL
Oh FFS, they've somehow managed to make the iTunes interface uglier clumsier and even more unusable.

Stop it, FFS Apple. Just stop it...

They're employing Machiavelli's technique for winning the love of a conquered territory. Appoint a brutal oppressor as governor, and allow him to stamp out every vestige of resistance. Hang anybody who might even be thinking of resisting, and their families. Raises taxes to unsustainable, brutal levels. Seize all assets of worth. Then, once things are a living hell, sweep in with dramatic changes. Announce that you are shocked, shocked at the conditions there. Hang your interim governor, and appoint a new one who will stop the executions, lower taxes (but not all the way back to previous levels), and return some assets to the previous owners. Then your new governor will be worshipped as a saint.

We're still in phase one: iTunes the Oppressor. Someday they will release something that is marginally less abusive, and the days of iTunes the Savior will commence.

That sounds awfully like religion. "It'll be wonderful in the next life, trust us!"

All hail the Willoughby chapter of the church of the eternal public beta!

Oh God, it burns. The UI is so awful. The miniplayer now has extra added magical mystery meat navigation. Sometimes the close button will appear when you hover over it and sometimes it won't. Once you play a song there is no way to turn the miniplayer off other than going into list mode and then "hover in hope" (I think that's Apple's new UI navigation paradigm) that the close button appears. Confusingly there's an album thumbnail for iTunes in fullscreen mode but no thumbnail for the miniplayer where it's perhaps moderately useful.

I had just gotten used to Apple's last version of magical mystery meat navigation, but a bit like Sisyphus on his hill, Apple has condemned me to relearn their new one true way with each version update.

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2017 05:26PM by ARL.

John Willoughby – March 27, 2017 05:28PMReplyQuoteEngland expects that every man will do his duty. Ha-ha!

If it didn't break everything that you already know, how would you know it was new?